A Short Game
by Sparkling Grimm
Summary: A one-shot reveal that revolves around a game of spin the bottle.


"Yeah, we'll all promise to just be cool about it, and it'll be good. Just think, a blanket of snow outside, wrapping us in. We can watch movies, play games, exchange Secret Santa presents, except I'm calling it a winter holiday party because well, we'll be out for winter holiday, and I wanna be respectful of Nathaniel. So, what do you say, are you two in for a bit of fun?" Those had been Kim's words when he'd invited Alya and Marinette to his winter holiday party, and at the time, Marinette had believed him.

She'd never make that mistake again.

"C'mon on, Marinette. It's your turn." Alix snickered.

One would think, that after three years spent as Ladybug, nothing could possibly scare her anymore, but here she was, sitting in a circle with her friends and feeling reluctant even touch the stupid bottle.

She gripped the necklace she typically wore beneath her shirt, trying to draw courage and comfort from the three charms on it. Usually, as the charms were Tikki's kwami resin, her half of the "Find your way, back to me" best friend heart she'd shared with Cat Noir, and last year's Christmas present from Adrien, this worked.

Not tonight though.

Tonight, all she saw was Tikki good naturedly rolling her eyes, Cat Noir eagerly laughing, and Adrien, well…

Her eyes flicked to him, and her brain practically shut down when he winked at her. "Spin well, Marinette."

After three years, how did he still have this effect on her?

"Marinette!" Alya snapped. Marinette jumped a little, and turned to her friend who was laughing, "It's okay. Just go."

And so she did. She spun hard and squeezed her eyes shut. It didn't matter, she could still hear the stupid thing whistling as it spun on the bare stone floor. It was a moment that lasted both a lifetime and was altogether too preciously short. She felt herself silently cursing Kim. Where had he even gotten this game? Oh right, America. Stupid American game. Then the bottle began to slow.

She immediately, mentally, apologized.

Slower.

What if the stupid thing actually landed on Adrien? Could she really bring herself to kiss him?

Slower.

What if it didn't? After all, the odds weren't high that it would be him. What if she had to kiss one of her other friends?

Slower.

Why had she even agreed to play this stupid game!?

Unable to take it anymore, Marinette opened her eyes just as the bottle was settling. Alya grabbed onto Marinette, covering her eyes. "Line landing. Right or left, Marinette?"

"What?"

"Oh, c'mon on, Alya don't do this to her." Nino said, but he was chuckling. "Go left, Marinette."

"Nah, she's right!" Kim laughed. "Definitely go right, Marinette!"

"Right or freakin' left, Marinette?" That cackle was Alix.

"Um. I dunno?"

Kim started the chant as 'right', but soon people were cheering for both sides. Marinette tried to figure out who was voting where, but it was all just noise to her. She took a deep breath and tried a different approach: Which two people might have sat together, in a way that Kim would think it was funnier for her to kiss the person on the right, but Nino, probably out of kindness, would try to have her kiss the person on the left?

Alix and Mylene. Nino, despite knowing her crush on Adrien hadn't wavered in three years, might try to direct her to one of her single, but more brash and fun loving friends, whereas Kim would love to have her making out with someone else's significant other.

"Guys! Guys!" That was Mylene herself. She sounded overly innocent when she asked, "What if we're playing this wrong? After all, Marinette is our first one on the line, what if we just make her kiss both?"

"Alya?" Nino asked.

"I'll allow it."

"Me too." Kim was laughing so hard his voice cracked, "This is gonna be great."

There were more giggles when Alya released Marinette. This was it. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. The bottle was pointing between Nino and Adrien. She gasped in air, but only once.

Adrien grinned, and fist bumped Nino who shrugged at her, laughing.

Okay. She had been Ladybug for three years, staving off Hawk Moth at every turn. This would NOT defeat her. She released her necklace, and the charms fell, catching on the edge of her shirt.

Nino was the easier one of the two, so she went to him first. Kneeling before him, she caught Nino's chin with her hand and leaned in, offering him a quick peck on the lips. It seemed he'd had the same thought, as he made no move to deepen or otherwise engage in the kiss.

There were boos and jeers from behind her, but Alya was still chuckling, "I told you I'd allow it."

Marinette looked back at her friend and shook her head with a snicker of her own. The combined gesture was enough to free her necklace.

"Bro, you okay?"

Marinette, along with everyone else really, looked back at Adrien. His expression had changed. He seemed to have been staring at her bewilderedly, but his gaze had broken when Nino had spoken to him. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. I just, the penalty for refusing a kiss is to shed an article of clothing, right?"

Marinette's heart plummeted, but Kim nodded slowly. "That's right."

Adrien immediately peeled his shirt off and chucked it into the center. He straightened the pendant, a triangle with a ragged bottom, that he wore beneath it. "Sorry, Mi-Marinette, but I would feel guilty, if I didn't at least, try."

His expression was hopeful and imploring. He probably wanted her to understand, and, in her own way, she did. They were friends, but he'd known about her crush on him for a while. He'd been fine with it, but this was clearly too close to leading her on for him. She could forgive him that.

She smiled, maybe a little more brokenly than she had intended, and returned to her spot. Tucking away her necklace gave her the extra moment she needed before she had to turn back and face everyone. Gratefully, she noticed that her friends weren't starring, but had made the effort to appear normal. Rose even made a heart gesture at her, which she returned.

Max coughed, "So, it's Alya's turn."

Marinette didn't really pay attention after that. As she was both the first rejection of the game, and had been rejected by Adrien to boot, she hurt. Alya's fingers grazed her back. She looked up at her friend, and saw worry and compassion there, but fear too. It took her a minute to get it, but when she did she laughed. Then she leaned up to whisper, "It's just a game, Alya. I'm not going to attract butterflies just because someone said no."

"I know, girl." Alya replied, hugging her, "But I still gotta worry."

"Alright, Adrien, you're up." Kim said. There was a snub in his voice that made Marinette look up.

Adrien lined up the bottle and twisted it furiously. The pendant he wore slapping lightly against his chest as he did so. As his bottle spun, he caught Kim's eyes, "I know you think I'm an asshole right now, but I swear to you, I wasn't trying to be."

Raised up on one knee, with his shoulders set back like that, and an arrogant tilt to his head, there was something familiar about him that seemed wholly unlike Adrien.

Kim, in a gesture that Marinette had never seen from him before, more or less backed down, "Alright, whatever."

Adrien rolled his eyes, got to his feet and walked away. Marinette traded a look with Alya, then jumped to her feet to follow him as he opened a patio door and stormed outside. Mylene and Nino both did the same. Behind them, Alya clapped her hands and call for a new activity.

"Adrien?" Nino having been next to him, got to him first.

"I'm okay, Nino." He replied. "Please go back inside. It's chilly out here."

"But you're out here." Mylene pointed out, "And without a shirt, you're not exactly dressed for it either."

"I'll be okay." He told them, "I'm use to the cold."

"Well, we're still worried about you." Mylene said, hugging herself, "Kim wasn't right in there. I know he didn't like how you handled the situation, but that still wasn't his place. I think he was just thinking back to when he became Dark Cupid and he overreacted."

"I know." Adrien's voice cracked. "And Kim and I know each other well enough that he'll figure out I didn't mean anything by it soon enough. We just both needed space, and I needed to calm down before I actually got angry."

"All the same, would it be alright if someone sat out here with you?" Marinette asked.

Adrien whirled around to face her. He smiled gratefully, "Yeah, of course you can."

"What about me and Mylene? We can go grab like a blanket or something and,"

"No. That's not necessary." Looking away from them, Adrien shivered violently. "I just want a chance to explain myself to Marinette, if she's willing to hear me out."

"Why don't you do it inside so the two of you don't freeze?" Alya asked from the doorway.

"I don't want an audience for this." Adrien shook his head.

"You don't have to have one." Alya replied, taking him by the arm. "We're clearing out to watch a movie upstairs."

Alya pulled Adrien back indoors, and the other three followed. Rose looked at them worriedly, but Mylene drew her away. Alya grabbed Adrien's shirt off the floor and threw it to him. While he pulled it on, Marinette stared at her toes, gathering her confidence.

When she felt Adrien's fingers under chin, she started before he could, "Look, I'm not mad, Adrien, or even upset. I know we've always been friends, and you were just trying to spare my feelings. I don't blame you for that, in fact, I appreciate it. I wish everyone else did too, but,"

"While I really hope you're not wrong about the first part of that, I know you are about the second." He interrupted softly. Startled, she looked up into a familiar smile, "I didn't do it because I wanted to spare you anything. I did it, so you would see something that I didn't want to call anyone else's attention to. Only it backfired spectacularly."

He reached into his collar and pulled loose the pendant he'd revealed earlier by removing his shirt. Marinette had been distracted enough not to take too much notice of it then, now she wished she had. It was the bottom side of a heart inscribed with the words "back to me".

The same one she'd given Cat Noir. She swallowed hard. How would he handle this?

Oh right, brazenly.

She looked up at Adrien, "Sorry, Kitty, but I'm pretty sure that the rules state that if you want to reclaim that shirt you're wearing, you have to kiss me twice. Once for the rejection, and once for the shirt."

"Well, I can't possibly rebel in my civilian form," Adrien chuckled. "Or people might catch on."

Then he kissed her.

Twice.

* * *

**Thanks to RoseySparrow for reading over this, and pushing me to finish and post it.**


End file.
